Boston pro sports news and analysis from
Brian MacPherson of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Francona denies Beckett has torn oblique

SI.com's Tom Verducci wrote in a column this morning that Josh Beckett "tore his oblique muscle in his final start of the regular season," something Terry Francona denied and dismissed in his office this afternoon.

"No," he said. "Come on. He doesn't have that. He went through a side not yesterday, but the day before. It's hard to explain because I don't know how to answer something that's not true. That's the best I can do. I actually heard somebody kind of mumbling that today, and I was hoping that it was just somebody saying it. I guess it wasn't. ...

"I can guarantee you that that's not -- I don't think anybody is capable of doing that, nor would we let him."

Francona reiterated his denial in his regular press conference a few minutes later.

"When the media chooses not to be completely professional, we get put in a tough position," he said. "Other than that, I don't know how to answer it. It's not true, so that's about the best I can do."